Recent Sightings

Small Tortoiseshell found in Church     

Fungi – probably  Melanoleuca polioleuca  Common Cavalier  Click for photo  

Helvella crispa fungus Click for photo     

Sub-adult Gannet on High Street taken into care

Natterer’s bat injured as hanging tile removed – taken into care  Click for photo  

Daubenton’s bat Myotis daubentonii brought in by cat

Can anyone tell us what these jelly-like blobs are? Click for photo 

Female Firecrest flew into a glass door.  Kept inside for the night and released in the morning. Click for photo  

Sulphur Tuft fungi Hypholoma fasciculare  on tree stump  Click for photo

Rose Bedeguar Gall (also known as Robin’s pincushion) Click for photo – a gall caused by the larvae of a tiny wasp, Dipoloepis rosae

Red Admiral

Satellite moth Click for photo and Merveille-du-Jour Click for photo

About two dozen Redwing foraging on grass  Click for photo

Firecrest searching through heather

Pied Flycatcher, pair, catching insects   

Raven in flight

Barn owl

Several passes by rare Western Barbastelle bat Barbastella barbastellus between dusk and dawn. Also detected: Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Brown Long-eared Plecotus auritus,Serotine Eptesicus serotinus, Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus,Daubenton’s  Myotis daubentonii, and Noctule Nyctalus noctula.

Three Blue Underwing (Clifden Nonpareil) moths Catocala fraxini    Click for photo

Good numbers of  Soprano Pipistrelles Pipistrellus pygmaeus and Daubenton’s bats Myotis daubentonii on the wing. Also passes by Noctule bats Nyctalus noctula,, Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Brown Long-eared bat Plecotus auritus and Serotine Eptesicus serotinus

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Good displays by Soprano Pipistrelles Pipistrellus pygmaeus and Noctule bats Nyctalus noctula.  Daubenton’s Myotis daubentonii, Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Brown Long-eared Plecotus auritus and Serotine Eptesicus serotinus also detected.  

Juvenile Slowworm  Anguis fragilis crossing sandy path

Crab spider folding a flower petal with silk to hide before catching a hoverfly Click for photo

Sub-adult Brown Long-eared bat Plecotus auritus taken into care after being found grounded  Click for photo

Wasp Plumehorn hoverfly Volucella inanis Click for photo

Brown Hairstreak butterfly, female searching for suitable egg-laying locations on young Blackthorn

6 well fledged Song Thrushes eating elderberries. About 11 House Sparrows. Plus Wren, Robin etc Also Hedge Sparrow, about 4 Great Tits. Also heard 2 Tree Creepers.  

Spider Metellina sp.  Click for photo

Large jumping spider Marpissa muscosa in sunshine   Click for photo

Speckled Bush-cricket  Leptophyes punctatissima   Click for photo

Several species of bat on the wing – Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Serotine, Brown Long-eared and Noctule     

Stoat outside back door

Hummingbird Hawkmoth  Click for photo

Two large, unidentified deer, possibly Red Deer

4 unidentified bats on the wing

Golden Ringed dragonfly

Light Crimson Underwing moth click for photo, second generation Wood White butterfly click for photo and an Oak Bush-Cricket

Great Fox-Spider juvenile (very small) 

Longhorn beetle Lectura quadrifasciata   Click for photo

Valesina subspecies of Silver Washed Fritillary, lacking orange pigmentation, nectaring on blackberry blossom

Tawny Grisette  Amanita fulva 

About 10 Swifts screaming overhead

Many butterflies nectaring in sunshine – Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Green-veined White, Large Skipper, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Holly Blue

Butterflies – Brimstone 45,  Silver-washed Fritillary 19 

Female Emperor dragonfly devouring a (possibly newly emerged) Migrant Hawker Click for photo

Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Daubenton’s and Noctule bats on the wing

Hummingbird Hawkmoth on Buddleia flower   

Wood White butterfly, 2, first of summer brood 

Greater Horseshoe bat investigating potential roost. Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Serotine, Brown Long-eared and Natterer’s bats also foraging in the area.  

Inquisitive Reeve’s Muntjac frightening a Rabbit Click for photo

Grayling butterfly

2nd generation Holly Blue butterfly Click for photo. Also pupae of a Harlequin Ladybird on a ragwort leaf.

Glow worm  glowing

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly Click for photo

Grass Snake, adult, curled up under a tin   

Grey Herons disputing territory  Click for photo             

Silver-washed Fritillary, Large and Small Skipper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White and White Admiral butterflies, many of all now on the wing. 

Starling, flock of 70+ on telegraph wires       

Purple Emperor butterfly Click for photo

Multicolored Asian Ladybeetle (Harlequin) larva Harmonia axyridis Click for photo

Male Broad-bodied chaser Libellula depressa  Click for photo

Two Swifts up high

4 Swifts screaming

Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus_cyanurus Click for photo

Green Tiger Beetle  Cicindela campestris Click for photo

Green-veined White butterfly

Weevil Cionus hortulanus   Click for photo

Jumping spiders Heliophanus flavipes Click for photo and Salticus scenicus hunting in sunshine

Yellow Shell moth  Click for photo

Holly blue butterfly nectaring on Cotoneaster flowers Click for photo

Nightingale singing

Swifts, two flying very high 

Bee fly Bombilius major Click for photo

Cuckoo calling on and off all week

Wood White butterfly – first of spring brood

Female Bechstein’s bat radio tagged to trace roost

Wolf spider Pardosa amentata warily courting a large female Click for photo

Holly Blue, Brimstone, Red Admiral, Orange Tip (male) and Speckled Wood butterflies

Two Duke of Burgundy butterflies     

Four Wasp Beetles emerging from logs     

Amphipod, probably the invasive land hopper Arcitalitrus dorrieni Click for photo

Hornet flying between window and
curtain.

Holly Blue butterfly   

Holly Blue butterfly   

Slowworm, adult, beneath tin     

Blackcap and Wren singing     

Speckled Wood butterfly

Nightingale singing Click for recording

Great Crested Newt

Otter crossing road

Sparrowhawk missing its target on a bird feeder then resting for five seconds

Male and female Adder basking about 1km north of the NT car park, possibly sub adult, as they were quite small, so perhaps not a breeding pair. Click for photo

Orange-tip butterfly male

Red Kite flying over

5 Slow Worms in compost bin and one Grass Snake sheltering under a compost bin lid on the ground

Goldcrest on bird feeder

Male Brambling  

Skylark seen and heard

Brimstone butterfly, male

Solitary specimen of Wood Sorrel in flower

Otter

Southern Wood Ant colonies emerging en masse

Grey Wagtail foraging in the stream entering the pond. Also Yew flower pollen releasing.

Small flock of Bullfinches

First singing Chiffchaff of the year at this site (5 days later than last year). Woodlark singing here last 2 days also.

Pair Greenfinches  

Close view of an adult Viviparous Lizard

Two Siskins on grass

Yellow wagtail reported scrabbling about for food under the lamp

Elfcup fungus – either Scarlet Elfcup Sarcoscypha austriaca or Ruby Elfcup Sarcoscypha coccinea Click for photo

Several Herald moths and a number of Cave Spiders Meta sp. in National Trust bat barn Click for photo

9 Natterer’s bats Myotis nattereri in underground hibernaculum   

Female Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea checking garden pond

Nationally scarce Horse Chestnut moth Pachycnemia hippocastanaria Click for photo

Last sighting of a Brambling this winter

Pair of very vocal Ravens seen

Male Brimstone butterfly

Two male Brimstone butterflies, , energetically searching bramble plants

Frog spawn appearing in garden pond

Turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor Click for photo

Siskins have finally made their annual appearance on my bird feeder

An amazing 67 moths trapped overnight including Pale Pinion Lithophane hepatica Click for photo and a March moth Alsophila aescularia Click for photo

Male Brimstone butterfly

Red Kite swooping over fields       

Thrush singing joyfully       

One Daubenton’s bat and a single long-eared bat hibernating in NT Bat barn

A single Natterer’s bat hibernating in NT bat barn

2 rare Western Barbastelle bats Barbastella barbastellus, 14 Natterer’s Myotis nattereri, 1 Daubenton’s Myotis daubentonii, 1 long-eared Plecotus sp, 1 small woodland Myotis hibernating in underground site

Rare British Soldiers lichen Cladonia cristatella Click for photo

Field Vole Microtus agrestis  Click for photo

Late 1st sighting of brambling (usually first seen in November)

Unusually pale female Blackbird. Click for photo
(Subsequently identified as having dilution, in which melanin cells are present (unlike in leucistic birds) but produce less pigment than normal).

3 or more Treecreepers this morning in a shrubby tree by the stream,

8 Greenfinches in the garden this morning.  Usually 1 and occasionally 2 but haven’t seen 8 together for some years.  

Toad

Pair of Reeve’s Muntjac browsing in close proximity

Four unringed Greater Horseshoe bats still resident in roost due to mild weather

Goldfinches, 8 on bird feeders and queue nearby   

Tiger Eye Fungus   

Many Common Pipistrelle and Brown Long-eared bats on the wing, and a single Western Barbastelle 

Common Frog Click for photo

Many varieties of fungi on a dead tree stump

Sparrowhawk being enthusiastically chased by two carrion crows

Speckled Wood butterfly in 17ºC temp

Two male Common Darters, over the same puddle. And, less expected, a male Emperor, patrolling a puddle, and two female Emperors, ovipositing in the banks of puddles

Painted Lady butterfly

Firecrest stunned on patio – later recovered

Slowworm beneath the soil

Clifden Nonpareil moth in greenhouseClick for photo

Grass Snake, juvenile, beneath a tin and a sloughed skin beneath another tin

 Centipede Lithobius forficatus found in house     Click for photo

Pair of Raven circling for some minutes (single ravens also spotted over Black Down in past 3 weeks)

Three juvenile Greater Horseshoe bats and a single Western Barbastelle roosting in derelict building

Three juvenile Greater Horseshoe bats and a single Western Barbastelle roosting in derelict building

Crossbill, Sparrowhawk, 15 Redwings, 3 Firecrests and 2 Marsh Tits

Green-brindled Crescent Click for photo and Merveille du Jour moths Click for photo

Ravens, 2 flying over

Grisette Amanita vaginata fungus   Click for photo

 Psathyrella corrugis fungus   Click for photo

Red-cracked Bolete Boletus chrysenteron   Click for photo

Scarletina Bolete Neoboletus praestigiator (known before as Boletus erythropus or luridiformis)   Click for photo

Convolvulus Hawkmoth   Click for photo

Rare Wood Sandpiper    Click for photo

Much bat activity over lake. Common and Soprano pipistrelles, Daubenton’s, Natterer’s, Brown Long-eared and Noctule all seen clearly by lamplight

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Butting match between a pair of Reeves Muntjac – the female possibly repelling mating advances

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Young Roe suckling between browsing on brambles    Click for photo

Hummingbird Hawk moth

Glow-worms, 2

Hummingbird Hawk moth

3 Wood White butterflies, new to this site

Drinker moth    Click for photo

Juvenile Greater Horseshoe bats now starting to fly in maternity roost    Click for video

Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly

Partial albino Juvenile Carrion Crow Click for photo

Invasive immigrant Box-tree MothCydalima perspectalis  Click for photo

Purple Emperor butterfly flying unusually low on the hottest day

Wood White butterfly   Click for photo

Two Barn Owls emerging from barn roost

Many pipistrelle bats of both common species on the wing, plus Noctule, Daubenton’s, Serotine, Western Barbastelle, Alcathoe, Brown Long-eared and some unidentified Myotis species

Many pipistrelle bats of both common species on the wing, plus Noctule, Daubenton’s, Serotine, Western Barbastelle, Alcathoe, Brown Long-eared and some unidentified Myotis species

Green Woodpecker and juvenile foraging for ants   Click for photo

Up to nine Greater Horseshoe bats in maternity roost – with five pups now visible    Click for video

Barn owl in flight

Many bats feeding on the wing – Common and Soprano Pipistrelle, Daubenton’s, Brown Long-eared and Noctule

Swift

Buff Ermine moth, resting on front door

Swift, one. Swallows 18 perched on wires

Juvenile Soprano Pipistrelle bat taken into care after being found grounded

Goat Moth Click for photo and Light Crimson Underwing Click for photo

Brown Long-eared bat in dormouse box     Click for photo

Glowworm

Common Pipistrelle bat pup found in kitchen, but soon died

First local Greater Horseshoe bat pup of 2022     Click for video

Marbled White, Ringlet butterflies

Female Common Pipistrelle bat found exhausted in house. Released after a little attention.

Pine Hawkmoth Click for photo and Eyed Hawkmoth Click for photo

Large Skipper, White Admiral, Meadow Brown, Wood White butterflies

Lime Hawkmoth in polytunnel Click for photo  Many beetles on foliage, including 14-spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata Click for photo

Rare Western Barbastelle bat flying past

Common and Soprano Pipistrelle bats

At least 5 plump-looking Greater Horseshoe bats now in residence in maternity roost

Heavily pregnant Soprano Pipistrelle bat trapped in building taken into care. Released after rehydration and a good feed.

Painted Lady butterfly

Female Field Cricket    Click for photo

Alder Kitten moth: the 2nd ever record for Hants, the other was in 1945   Click for photo 

Greater Horseshoe bats beginning to return to maternity roost

Scorpionfly Panorpa communis   Click for photo

Swifts, 7

Much bat activity overnight – Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Brown long-eared, Noctule, Serotine, Western Barbastelle and unidentified Myotis species

Fine Sulphur Polypore Laetiporus sulphurous   Click for photo

Poplar Hawk Click for photo  and Green Silver-lines Click for photo  moths, and some eggs laid in the moth trap (probably from Pale Tussock moth) Click for photo

Fox cub (one of three) foraging alone   Click for video

Wood White butterflies, several spring brood

Green-veined White butterfly

Very large female pipistrelle bat of indeterminate species taken into care with serious cat injuries. (DNA test showed it to be Pipistrellus pipistrellus).

Orange-tip male and Comma butterflies

Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis    Click for photo 

Puss Moth

Tiny Red Fox cub playing with mother

Stitchwort scrambling up a wire fenceand also in adjacent woodland

Comma butterfly fluttering near loganberry leaves

Emperor moth, male   Click for photo

Natterjack Toads, juvenile and spawn strings

 Dead Stoat found in garden   Click for photo   

Holly Blue and male Orange-tip butterflies

Cuckoo

Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Daubenton’s, Brown long-eared, Serotine and Western Barbastelle bats

Cuckoo

Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip and Peacock butterflies. Also a Goldfinch landing on the ground.

Common and Soprano Pipistrelles and Daubenton’s bats

Nightingale heard

Coltsfoot growing in a large patch on disturbed gravel   Click for photo

Long-eared bat, probably Plecotus auritus, sheltering in National Trust bat barn after a cold night

Peacock butterfly fluttering over grass and briefly basking on paving slabs, then chased off an approaching bumblebee, following it for a good few seconds’ distance

Greater Horseshoe bat returning to regular roost

Brimstone and Peacock butterflies active in the sunshine

Population of Cellar Spiders Pholcus phalangiodes apparently wiped out by entomopathogenic fungus, probably Torrubiella pulvinata     Click for photo

Common pipistrelle bat found grounded in pouring rain. Released after a few days of intensive care.

Male Brimstone butterfly

Peacock butterfly

Chiffchaff singing

Brimstone butterfly, male

2 x Red Admiral butterflies

Peacock Butterfly

Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum   Click for photo

Buff tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris on a daffodil  Click for photo

5 Natterer’s bats Myotis nattereri, 2 small woodland Myotis and a single long-eared bat Plecotus sp. hibernating in underground site. Also good numbers of Herald moths.

Extensive carpet of mauve crocuses visited by bumblebees and wild bees  Click for photo

Badger seizing worms from grass  Click for video

Roe buck with fine antlers in velvet  Click for photo

 In moth trap: 8 moths, two species, Pale Brindled Beauty and Spring Ushers Click for photo. Also a solitary wasp Ancistrocerus nigricornis Click for photo

Pair of Reeve’s muntjac   Click for photo

Heron perching unconcernedly in treetop whilst being mobbed by nest-building crows  Click for photo

Fox skull  Click for photo

Brown long-eared bat found grounded. Died in care a few days later.

3 Natterer’s bats, a Daubenton’s, a small woodland Myotis, a long-eared and an unidentified Myotis hibernating in underground site

4 Goosander (1 male, 3 females)

3 male Goosander still present on pond

Queen wasp emerging prematurely from hibernation

Spirited fight between two Wood Pigeons beneath bird feeder, egged on by two squawking Magpies who then chased and pecked the loser

6 Goosander – 3 male, 3 female, and a Little Egret

Adder  Click for photo

Amazing display of fungi on a tree stump   Click for photo  

Various fungi on an old oak stump   Click for photo

Several bunches of mistletoe on a leafless tree   Click for photo

Mosquito Culex pipiens emerging from hibernation during mild spell  Click for photo

Leucistic goldfinch at birdfeeder  Click for photo

Redwing Click for photo and jay Click for photo

Large badger foraging on lawn during a mild night

Male blackcap

Common darter

Male common darter

Hibernating brown long-eared bat found beneath ridge tile during repair works. Taken into temporary care. (A second brought in on 17th, then both released)   Click for photo

Ring-necked parakeet Psittacula krameri on birdfeeder    Click for photo    

Cluster of fenugreek stalkball Phleogena faginea , a tiny basidiomycete fungus growing on tree bark   Click for photo

Ring ouzel (1st winter) Click for photo, mistle thrush, fieldfare,redwing, blackbird, 20+ brambling, chaffinch, lesser redpoll, a few stonechat and Dartford warbler, 400-ish wood pigeon heading south

Large flocks of wood pigeon, 12+ crossbill, 50-ish linnet(?), goshawk toying with a crow, 4 cormorant, small numbers of redwing and fieldfare